Josh you can appreciate given the opportunity I a to get the perfect base so I quizzed him on the effects of domestic adaption he was more than confident as the same base is used a home. I assumed too that none of our community had 60 lt pots and commercial burners. He emphasized the need to cook them until soft I cooked mine for about 13/4 hours just o be sure again he said their quantities and processes had to work the way they did. Also both he and his assistant emphasized that everything is determined by the base and they were proud of the versatility of theirs:

Josh, your right about the onions , whole and halved which he said the 60 litre pot could take with a four hour gentle simmer and that we should chop for the recipe he gave us. You are correct too about the Marg the photo taken seconds after the stage two ingredients went in just ahead of the blitz.

Jerry, the camera lets us down with colour so the line up left to right was as follows.

Back row Coriander Seeds, Bay Leaves and Cinemon Stick, Cumin Powder, Cumin Seeds

Middle row Methi, Garam Masala, Diggi Mirch, Turneric

front row Salt and Spring Onions.

Thanks Mickdabass I am just delighted we can start to trust what I got there and the real stars on the site can work there alchemy with the basics from The Ashoka to conjure up a wide menu until I get back there.

Derek Dansek Having had  great day wandering around Brick Lane in the East End of London last year I remember the various Asian/Indian supermarkets had everything you could ever dream of and fantastic BIRs the length and breadth of the street, Without doubt the ChinaTown equivalent for Asians in London really worth a visit.

Cheers Derek, I have a dinner party on the 20th and doing a good job with Thai would be cool, so if you can post them early for Christmas this Santa will be most grateful.

Adriandavidb it was a huge suprise to me that the chef didn't use a spice mix and as you can seed from the photograph he uses spices as he needs them. The Garam Masala as you found out is Eastend Brand which he strongly advised we use.

The Tandoori and Ticka pastes were Pataks brand.

Answering a question from somewhere else he strongly advised cooking on a slow flame not that fully up turbo stuff we sometimes se in TAs, probably because they need to fly the stuff out the door on Friday and Saturday nights and quality unlike for our award winning chef is as not a big issue.

Bye the way I witnessed seeing the stores of the Patak and Eastend products and them using them.

Cheers Bobby, I have taken a great deal of encouragement from you since I returned to the site back in late October so your comments here are appreciated.

Thanks again guys, looking at the photos it is all coming back so vividly,one of the best days of my life.

Bobby Bhuna, thanks for the kind comments, I have posted elswhere missing your comments here,sorry.

Cory Ander The red oil looking stuff is actually the Bunjara and again the camera is letting us down since this was actually dark brown, they used the oil here for cooking. I suspect when they reclaim as I watched them doing cooking larger batches for the evening buffet they just top the bunjara.

Yes that is the Garlic/Ginger Paste

That believe it or not is White Tower Brand Tomato Paste.

Spring onions,yes and he added them as a garnish to my Bhuna I carried away with me.

Not Fenugreek but infact coriander seed.

The cooked lamb was really amazing and I cant wait to have a go with that but one thing at a time,i need to move house so could be after Christmas before I catch up on more testing myself but everything so far has been excellent. Cheers Panpot

Cool ThaiExpat any good Thai recipes where you are?

Thanks SnS I realise now you point it out your correct,it was the quaint little box it came in that threw me I suspect.

Interesting reading here though as you might accept i feel inclined to defend what I witnessed on all our behalf's at The Ashoka.I suspect there is a fair bit of a difference between TAs and BIRs up and down the country but aspiring to cook the best food I can has always been my ambition so if that takes margarine and coconut block,precooked Garlic/Ginger and BunJara then so be it. Bobby I have noticed that of all the more recent enthusiasts you have yet to comment on the stuff I have posted on The Ashoka and given that you seem to be from the east of Scotland I would have thought the regional differences would be minimal. I think if you have a go with what was shared with me by an honest hard working and award winning chef you might find the basics to lift your own experimentation to new level. The Base Sauce is wonderful and the alchemy of working in the other basics he shared is well worth it and absolutely identical to what I have been searching for all these years in taste smell and texture not to mention the revealed secret about the Vegtable Pakora.

But hey I dint expect everyone to like it but its the closest I have come so now I am down to experimenting with these new tools to expand my menu. cheers Panpot